Havre football looks to rebound against Miles City

Coming off a tough loss to Billings Central last weekend, the Havre High football team hopes to play better tonight at home against the Miles City Cowboys. As the Blue Ponies look to get back on track, HHS head coach Jake Eldridge believes the Cowboys will give them a battle.

"I expect it to be a great ball game. Miles City's obviously a very good football team," Eldridge said. "They're going to come down here, they're going to be well-coached and they're going to be ready to go so it's going to be a dog fight. It's going to be a great game and we're excited to get after it."

The Miles City Cowboys are not off to the best start this season as they have an 0-2 record thanks to losses to Lockwood and Glendive. But Eldridge knows the Cowboys are capable of giving the Ponies trouble.

The Ponies will need to keep their eyes on quarterback Kordt Smith, who can cause headaches with both his arms and his legs. Along with the running backs in the backfield, the Ponies know they will have their hands full with the Miles City ground game.

"(Smith's) going to be a guy that we're going to have to definitely keep him in the box and make sure we don't let him run around and get after us that way," Eldridge said. "They got a really good running back and a tight end-fullback duo in the backfield so they're going to run the ball really well."

The Ponies head into the game with a 1-1 record and are coming off a 24-3 loss to Billings Central on the road last weekend. If the Ponies want to rise above .500, Eldridge knows the Havre offense will have to play better tonight.

"We just got to get back to executing. We didn't do that last week enough as there were times that we did in spurts but obviously weren't consistent enough to be able to generate any points," Eldridge said. "We definitely have to make sure that we capitalize once we're in the red zone."

The Ponies have several players that can lead them to success on offense tonight. With most of the snaps at quarterback this season, Ciaran Courtnage has completed 53.1 percent of his passes for 238 yards and three touchdowns.

Courtnage will need to distribute the ball to receivers such as Tre Gary, who leads the team with four catches for 67 yards. The Ponies will also look to get the ground game going tonight. Tate Nelson leads the Ponies with 160 rushing yards and a score on 34 carries through two games.

As the Ponies look to rebound from last week's last loss, they are happy to return to the friendly confines of Blue Pony Stadium. With the home crowd cheering them on, Eldridge looks forward to seeing how the Ponies build off that energy.

"It's great to be able to play at home. We love being under the lights here at Blue Pony Stadium with the stands full and everybody out there cheering us on," Eldridge said. "It's always a great atmosphere so the kids are excited. We love being at home in front of our fans."

The HHS football team will play Miles City at Blue Pony Stadium tonight at 7 p.m.